Jan

06

Posted by : Bucket Trucks Blog | On : January 6, 2012

It seems like bucket trucks are always in the news. Whether it’s an accident involving a bucket truck or a story about bucket truck rides at the carnival, you can pretty much always find some news involving bucket trucks. The past few weeks, there have been several stories to break involving utility bucket trucks. Here’s more about those:

On December 30, a Pacific Power worker suffered serious injuries after “An agitated and incoherent woman approached his vehicle, entered the cab, and attempted to drive away” in the utility bucket truck the worker was in. The worker attempted several time to stop the woman from starting the utility bucket truck through a remote kill switch from the bucket, but the woman was finally successful in starting the vehicle and upon doing so, sped off it it. The bucket truck has since been found approximately 200 miles away from the scene in Happy Camp, CA., but the woman is still at large. She’s been described as a Native American woman missing two front teeth. There is currently a $10,000 reward for information regarding the woman’s whereabouts.

From earlier in December, another story involves two men employed by an Ohio Cable Company using their company’s bucket truck to steal copper wire from a power line. They managed to steal a copper wire that stretch to be 1/2 mile long and worth about eight grand. This just happened recently in a neighboring town and cause power outages.

Just yesterday, a utility bucket truck overturned near Chicago, in Oak Lawn, IL to be exact. There was a city worker using the bucket truck for Christmas decorations. It hasn’t been determined, the cause of the overturned truck, but sources reports that “The rear stabiliser spread certainly looks to be insufficient on their own for a boom of this size”, per Vertikal.net. You can view pictures at their website. The OSHA is still investigating.

Sep

26

Posted by : Bucket Trucks Blog | On : September 26, 2011

Bucket Truck Crash

Car crashed into bucket trucks while man was working.

Police say last Thursday night, Timothy Ray Altice, 53, of Midlothian, Virgina, had been drinking and was driving down a road with little to no street lights. Mr. Altice crashed right into the back of a utility truck while there was a worker in the bucket of the aerial lift truck working on a telephone pole. Gary George, the worker who was in and using the bucket truck at the time, said this:

“He just came out of nowhere, just ran into the back of the truck,” said George. “Didn’t even slow down, nothing, just right into the back of it.”

You can view the full story from NBC 12 News here:

 

Bucket Truck Accidents are a very common occurrence. Whether they have been caused by a drunk driver, an electrical surge, or if necessary safety precautions haven’t been taken, an accident involving a bucket truck can be a very serious accident. Bucket Trucks Online and Southwest Equipment are constantly reminding folks of the importance for proper safety precautions. Drunk drivers running into the back of a truck isn’t nearly as common as a worker forgetting or simply neglecting to wear their safety harness. It’s such a small piece of equipment, but trust us, it saves lives every day. Just think about if you’re lifting yourself up to your tree trimming or line pole destination, when suddenly, a branch catches the side of your bucket. Once you extend far enough, that branch is going to act as a catapult device and when the tension is released, if you aren’t wearing your safety harness, you’re likely to go flying 50+ feet in the air. If you’re already 50 feet up, that’s a pretty far way to fall. You most likely wouldn’t survive. If you did, then you should probably try out to be America’s Next Top Super Hero.

So folks, while some stories are funny; hearing about a drunk driver plowing into the back of a used bucket truck and whatnot; others can end with the loss of life. Bucket Truck Safety Saves Lives. Pay attention, and you’ll be able to pay taxes longer. Isn’t that what we all want anyway–to make it to next tax season?